Car door construction



Nov. 13, 1934. c. E. EKLIND El AL 1,980,671

CAR DOOR CONSTRUCTION Filed Sept. 14, 1932 2 Sheets-Sheet l JQ-J -f/\/\//\/7'o/as- C421. 5 EKL/NO MLFEED 4. [BEAUCHAMP Nov. 13, 1934.

C. E. EKLlND Er AL CAR DOOR CONSTRUCTION Filed Sept. 14. 1952 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 TTY applicants.

Patented Nov. 13, 1934 PATENT OFFICE.

CAR DOOR CONSTRUCTION Carl E. Eklind and Wilfred A. Beauchamp, Chicago, Ill.

Application September 14, 1932, Serial No. 633,137

Claims.

This invention relates to freight cars and concerns itself primarily with the construction of railway house cars by which an effective dust seal is provided for the sliding doors employed 5 on said cars.

The problem of preventing ingress of dust into railway house cars has long been a vexatious one to the railroads and has, as far as applicants are aware, persistently defied solution. The ingress of dust and its deposition upon certain kinds of lading, such as flour, sugar, apparel, or paper, has resulted in damage to such lading. Claims made upon the railroads following upon such damage have proved costly.

l5 Efforts heretofore made, looking toward a solution to this problem, have generally been unsuccessful and at the present time within applicants knowledge only one plan, limited to wooden cars andwooden doors, is being utilized with any degree of consistency to exclude dust' from railway house cars. This plan employs strips of heavy paper extending substantially the height of the wooden doors and across the vertical edges of the doors. The strips of paper are secured to the doors and the wooden cars by means of wooden battens positioned upon the vertical margins of the paper and nailed to the doors and the car. Since the paper is often torn by the wind or because of rough 3D handling this method is not satisfactory and,

moreover, is not applicable to metallic railway freight house cars now in use. No method of dust exclusion from railway house cars of metallic construction now in use is known to This invention, therefore, has for its main object the provision of railway house cars which will prevent the ingress of dust into said cars through the door openings provided in the sides thereof.

A further object is the provision of sealing strips secured to the railway house cars around the door openings therein adapted to engage sliding doors provided on said cars to effectively seal the four margins of said doors in the closed position thereof against the ingress of dust.

A further object is the provision of railway house cars having flexible non-metallic strips secured thereto adjacent the margins of the side door openings thereof engageable with sliding doors provided on said cars to effect a dust seal.

A further object is the provision of railway house cars having sliding side doors cooperating with portions of said cars adjacent the door openings therein to provide a dust seal without modification or addition to said doors.

A further object is the provision of railway house cars provided with sliding lift doors which establish a dust seal at a margin between said doors and cars'in the lowering movement of the doors.

Other objects of the invention will become apparent as the description thereof proceeds.

In the drawings forming part of this specification:

Figure l is a partial elevation of a railway house car provided with lift doors and embodying the invention.

Figure 2 is a vertical section taken on line 2-2 of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a view similar to Figure 2 showing the invention applied to a straight sliding door.

Figure 4 is ahorizontal section taken on line 4-4 of Figure 1 with the lifting mechanism of the door omitted to more clearly illustrate the invention.

Inthe embodiment of the invention .illustrated in Figures 1, 2 and 4 a lift door 10 of metallic construction is provided upon a car 11, which is of the type known as a steel sheathed car. It will be readily apparent, however, as the description of the invention proceeds that the door may be constructed of metal or of wood and that the-type of the car itself may differ from the one illustrated without affecting the applicability of the invention.

The door 10 is of the lift type and for this purpose lifting mechanism embodying generally hangers 12 and 13, rollers 14 and 15 providedin said hangers, a connecting rod ,16 and an operating lever 17 may be utilized. In view of the ,fact that the lifting mechanism does not enter into the present invention reference thereto is briefly made. When the door is in its normal or lowered position, as clearly illustrated vin "Figure 2 of the drawings, contact is established between the bottom of said door and a track 18 to prevent sliding movement of the door. By means of the lifting mechanism referred to above the door may be elevated above the track so as to break its frictional engagement therewith and support it upon the rollers 14 and 15 formovement toward open or closed position. The low er edge of the door is maintained against .disengagement from the track by means of flanges 19 provided on the hangers 12 and 13 and at its upper margin disengagement from the .car is prevented by means of a hood member 20 secured to the side plate 21 of the car.

' The door 10 is adapted in its closed position to cover a door opening 22 provided in the side of the car. This opening is defined by the side plate 21 extending across the top thereof, front and rear door posts 23 and 24, and a side sill 25.

door 10 is adapted to be received and which. coacts with a front edge channel member secured to the door in order to prevent the entrance of sparks and the like into the car. Secured to the rear door post 24 is an angle spark strip 31 which, in the present illustration, is deformed to provide an attaching flange 32 and an outwardly directed flange 33. Extending rearwardly from the flange 33 is a lip 34 adapted to be engaged by a sealing strip 35 secured to the rear margin of the'door to exclude sparks and the like from the car.

While the construction at the'front and rear edges of the door and door opening above described is sufficient to exclude such foreign matter as sparks, cinders and the like from entering the car through the. door opening this construction is not sufiicient to prevent the ingross of dust particles into the car. To exclude dust from the car the present embodiment of stop. The sealing strip may be made of rubber or of rubber and fabric so as to be pliable and not interfere with the proper closing of the door. 4

While strips constructed of rubber or rubber and fabric are believed to be preferable it. is to be understood that this invention contemplates, as well, the employment of metallic or metallic and rubber sealing strips. The sealing strip 36 is tubular in from and is secured preferably within the pocket of the angle stop 26 by means of rivets. To render the tubular sealing strip more readily compressible and to permit riveting of the'strip without vitiating its compressibility, a plurality of slits such as 37, formed in the length of said strip, is provided therein. As illustrated in Figure 4 of the drawings, the forward edge of the door in its closed position engages the sealing strip 36 in such manner as to effectively preclude the entrance of dust into the car around the forward edge of the door.

At the rear vertical edge of the door opening a similar tubular sealing strip 38 is provided. The strip 38 is secured to the outwardly extending flange 33 of the spark strip 31 by means of rivets in the manner described for the securement of the sealing strip 36. The-sealing strip 38 in the closed position of the door is engaged by the metallic sealing strip 35 secured to the rear margin 10f the door and by such engageriveted as heretofore described upon the flange 40, and is adapted to be engaged by means of the inwardly extending leg 42 of an angle meniber 43 secured to the upper margin of the door. It will be apparent that when the door is elevated for sliding movement the leg 42 will be disengaged from the sealing strip and that in the lowering movement of the door in closed position engagement between said flange and said sealing strip will be had so as to exclude the entrance of dust adjacent the top of the door opening.

The entrance of dust adjacent the bottom of the door opening is prevented by means of the engagement between the lower margin of the door and a sealing strip 44. The position of the sealing strip 44 is maintained by means of 1 an angle member 45 secured to the side sill 25 and a threshold plate 46 between which the sealing strip is secured as by rivets, as shown in Figure 2 of the drawings. It will be manifest that as a result of the construction hereinbefore described the entrance of dust into the car through the side door openings thereof is effectively and economically prevented.

In Figure 3 of the drawings the application of the instant invention is illustrated in connection with a straight sliding door rather than a lift door. With the straight sliding door the dust sealing construction of the lift door with reference to the front and rear vertical margins and the bottom thereof is maintained. However, in view of the fact that there is no lowering movement of the straight sliding door the dust seal at the top of the door is modified somewhat, and in lieu of the tubular member 41 secured to the side plate 21 as shown in Figure 2 a. sealing strip 4? is fastened upon an angle member 48 so as to lie in engagement with the upper margin of the door in the closed position thereof.

It will be apparent from the foregoing that the door has been scaled tightly against the entrance of dust around the four margins thereof without modification of its construction or of the structure of the car. It will be further apparent that the invention is not limited to the details of construction illustrated which may readily be modified or changed by those skilled in the art. It is intended, consequently, that all modifications and changes be comprehended within this invention which is to be limited only f by the scope of the appended claims.

We claim:

1. In a railway house car having a door opening, a sliding door for closing said opening, a metallic sealing strip secured to said car adjacent to a vertical edge of said door opening, a metallic sealing strip secured to a vertical margin of said door, said strips cooperating in the closed position of said door to exclude relatively large particles of foreign matter from entering said car at said margin of the door, an additional flexible strip secured to said car adjacent to said vertical edge of the door opening, said door sealing strip engaging and deforming said flexible strip in the closed position of the 4 door to provide a dust seal at said margin of the door, and cooperating means secured to said car and said door for similarly providing a dust seal for the remaining margins of, said door.

2. In a railway house car having a door opening, a sliding door for closing said opening, a metallic sealing strip secured to said car adjacent to a vertical edge of said door opening, a metallic sealing strip secured to a vertical margin of said door, said strips cooperating in the closed position of said door to exclude relatively large particles of foreign matter from entering said car at said margin of the door, an additional flexible non-metallic tubular strip having a plurality of spaced slits in its length in the direction of opening movement of said door, rivets insertable through said slits for securing said tubular strip to said car sealing strip, said door sealing strip engaging and deforming said flexible tubular strip in the closed position of said door to provide a dust seal at said margin of the door and cooperating means secured to said car and said door for similarly providing a dust seal for the remaining margins of said door.

3. In a railway house car having a door opening, a sliding door for closing said opening, a metallic sealing strip secured to said car adjacent to a vertical edge of said door opening, a metallic sealing strip secured to a vertical margin of said door, said strips cooperating in the closed position of said door to exclude relatively large particles of foreign matter from entering said car at said margin of the door, an additional flexible strip secured to said car adjacent to said vertical edge of the door opening, said door moving in a plane parallel to said car in its final closing movement for effecting engagement between said door sealing strip and said flexible strip and deformation of the latter to provide a dust seal at said margin of the door, and 00- operating means secured to said car and said door for similarly providing a dust seal for the remaining margins of said door.

4. In a railway house car of the type having a door opening in a side thereof, rigid metallic sealing strips secured adjacent to the vertical edgesof said opening and an angle header and threshold plate secured respectively adjacent to the upper and lower edges of said opening, in combination, flexible strips secured to said sealing strips, header and threshold plate, a door mounted upon said car for movement in a plane parallel to said car, rigid metallic sealing strips secured to the vertical and upper margins of said door, said door seating strips cooperating with said first mentioned sealing strips and header and said threshold plate lying in proximate relation to said door in the closed position of the latter whereby to exclude ingress of relatively large particles of foreign matter into said car, said door sealing strips and the lower margin of said door additionally engaging and deforming corresponding flexible strips in the closed position of said door to provide a dust seal.

5. In a railway house car having a door opening, a threshold plate disposed in the lower part of said door opening and a sliding door for closing said opening, cooperating rigid metallic sealing means provided on said car and door adjacent to the upper and vertical edges of said opening and door, additional flexible strips secured to said car sealing strips for engagement with and deformation by said door sealing strips, an additional flexible strip secured to the lower face of an outwardly projecting portion of said threshold plate, said latter strip being engaged and deformed by said door whereby a dust-tight sliding door is provided.

CARL E. EKLIND. WILFRED A. BEAUCI-IAMP. 

